WZPL

WZPL (99.5 FM) is a radio station licensed to Greenfield, Indiana, and serving the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The station airs a Top 40 (CHR) format. WZPL is owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are located on North Shadeland Avenue on the city's east side[1], with its transmitter north of the Indianapolis World Sports Park on the east side of Indianapolis.

WZPL
CityGreenfield, Indiana
Broadcast areaIndianapolis, Indiana
Branding99-5 ZPL
SloganIndy's #1 Hit Music Station
Frequency99.5 MHz (HD Radio)
First air dateJune 1, 1962 (as WSMJ)
FormatTop 40 (CHR)
HD2: The Greatest Hits of All Time (Oldies)
HD3: Sports (WXNT simulcast)
ERP19,000 watts
HAAT236 meters (774 ft)
ClassB
Facility ID47144
Transmitter coordinates39.760°N 86.006°W / 39.760; -86.006
Call sign meaningW Z IndianaPoLis
Former call signsWSMJ (1962–1979)
WIKS-FM (1979–1983)
OwnerCumulus Media
(Radio License Holding SRC LLC)
Sister stationsWFMS, WJJK, WNTR, WXNT, WNDX
WebcastListen Live
Websitewzpl.com

History

The station signed on as WSMJ on June 1, 1962 and remained as such until the spring of 1979 when WSMJ was sold to Heftel Broadcasting. They changed to a disco music format and adopted the call sign WIKS-FM "The New Rock Kiss 99 FM" on April 14, 1979. Later, a contemporary hit radio format was adopted which, aside from a brief experiment playing classic rock in 1989, has continued to this day. The station was added to both Mediabase and Nielsen BDS Top 40/CHR reporting panels in November 2012.

The station is anchored by The Smiley Morning Show, hosted by Dave Smiley.

In the early 2000s the station was known as "Z 99-5."

On February 13, 2019, Cumulus Media and Entercom announced an agreement in which WZPL, WNTR, and WXNT would be swapped to Cumulus in exchange for WNSH in New York City and WHLL and WMAS-FM in Springfield, Massachusetts. Under the terms of the deal, Cumulus began operating WZPL under a local marketing agreement on March 1, 2019.[2] The swap was completed on May 13, 2019.[3]

HD radio

In 2005, WZPL became one of the first Indianapolis-area radio stations to broadcast their signal in HD Radio. In 2006, they introduced a stream of All Comedy Radio, a 24-hour comedy station, also known as "The Laugh Button," on their alternate HD 2 digital channel [4], and HD 3 as a simulcast of WXNT 1430 AM, CBS Sports Radio.[5] Following the sale of Radio Disney affiliate WRDZ-FM (now hip-hop formatted WZRL) to iHeartMedia (after the network started shuttering FM affiliates in the mid 2010s), WZPL had picked up the Radio Disney format for a year on the HD2 channel, until Entercom's affiliation with Disney expired.[6]

References
  1. Lindquist, David. "When your morning radio show moves across town in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic". IndyStar.com.
  2. "Cumulus Sells Six To EMF & Swaps With Entercom In New York & Indianapolis". RadioInsight. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  3. "Cumulus, Entercom Close Six-Station Swap". Inside Radio. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  4. "WZPL-HD2 All Comedy Radio". WZPL. Archived from the original on 2008-01-21. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2016-11-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) HD Radio Guide for Indianapolis
  6. Stine, Randy J. (March 9, 2017). "Entercom to Carry Radio Disney on Some HD2 Stations". RadioWorld.
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